


Lovely

by Kiranay



Category: Starship Promise (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Death, F/M, Soulmates AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 06:48:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13518771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiranay/pseuds/Kiranay
Summary: She's warm, inviting, and lively. She marches to the beat of her own drum. It’s a beat that he can only ever hope to match. She's everything could ever want, and she's lovely.





	Lovely

She’s lovely. Uncommonly cheerful, lively, the most brilliant engineer he’d ever met. She marches to the beat of her own drum. It’s a beat that he can only ever hope to match. He’s changed so much since he came into her light. She’s brought out a warmth that he hasn’t felt in years, perhaps a decade or more, he’s not sure how long.

She’s forced him to see exception in the world. He’s become stronger because of it. What he doesn’t know is how much brighter the light has become because of him. There’s been some hints of it as the years went on. She described her life before she met him as “safe, but boring”. Compared to him and his brother, she’d had an easy start to life. There was never a worry about if her family was going to have something for dinner. She never had to deal with slumlords. But he never held it against her. It was something he would talk about when it was just the two of them laying in bed, her arms wrapped around him. On those nights, she held him extra tight, however futile they both knew it was.

He never woke up after her for a reason, his dreams never let him sleep for long. These dreams, these nightmares, started around the time of Rhea’s death. In the beginning, he wondered if they were his regrets trying to come back, but that idea was quickly thrown out when they shifted. He began dreaming of a woman, not with long, dark hair, and pale eyes, but one with light brown hair and doe-like eyes. He can’t see her at first, but he senses a spirit that would become her. It’s not exactly friendly at first, but its spark remains with him. It communicates in mumbles, cries, and on occasion, giggles. Eventually, he works himself up enough to speak to it.

“Enough of this! Tell me what you want. I don’t know you, so I can’t imagine this could be regret.” He glowered at the shapeless spirit.

The spirit seemed to shift, as if it was tilting its head.

“What do you mean want? I don’t want anything. Not here at least. Maybe some hot tea? I haven’t had that in weeks.” It mused softly.

He frowned, his eye twitching.

“You mean to tell me that you’re upset about tea? I’ve got an entire galaxy’s worth of issues. And you’re upset about a drink?” He hissed.

“Well, yes… I guess if you put it that way… There’s always some sort of fight, but we’re asleep and it shouldn’t matter. If I could control my dreams, would I really want them to be about the galaxy’s problems?”

The dark-haired man stiffened up, and continued his icy stare towards the figure.

“Really. Sleep is a reprieve, or at least it usually is. I don’t know what kind of dream this is. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that bowl of cereal so close to bedtime…” It added the end so quickly, he wasn’t sure if he heard it correctly or not.

Whatever its intentions are, it doesn’t seem to react to his sense of urgency. His brow furrowed as he looked off into the abyss beyond them, calculating. There must be some meaning to this. A silly spirit with seemingly no worries?

He’d only spent a moment with his gaze elsewhere, and he’s damn near startled when it returns to the spirit. By then, it had shifted into a feminine shape; slender legs, a slightly curved waist, and a pair of breasts. The details were hazy at best, but there was no mistaking what it was.

“Don’t you want to see something else?” It stepped towards him, but he found himself unable to move back. “I don’t care if you’re the biggest bigwig in the whole Union. Everyone should have something nice to escape to.”

The figure crossed her arms.

“Sleep is for reflection, be it regret or a well fought battle. I’ll rest when I’m dead.” He replied nonchalantly.

She shook her head. “That’s not very wise, Antares. Let someone else worry about the fight when you’re asleep. You’ve done enough, don’t you think?”

“And you’re the wise one?” He huffed. “I don’t know who you think you are... It’s a captain’s burden to-”

“Blah blah blah. Let someone give you some advice for once.” She snapped, shoving him.

The shove, as feather light as it was, forced him to the ground. She followed him to the ground, crouching beside him.

“Let me worry about you, alright, dear?” She placed a warm hand to his cheek. “I know you’ve never slept well, but let me give you something to look forwards to.”

He jolted awake just as her spirit gave him a soft peck to the lips.

 

* * *

 

 

That dream was the first of many featuring her. Whatever she did, it must have left a heavy enough affect on him. He never knew what to expect with her. Some nights it would be the two of them sitting and watching a vid on his tablet; her pressed up to him, laying her head on his shoulder. Sometimes they would be walking somewhere together, holding hands. As time went on, they became shorter and less frequently. Their makeup changed. The scenery changed from a blank white plant to places he could recognize from his daily life, like the different corridors aboard his ship. He still couldn’t entirely remember her face, but by then he had began relying on the warmth of her spirit. She spoke to him less, and cried more often. He became distraught, even as he tried to keep a cool shell. Then, one night everything changed.

The dark haired man was walking down the main hall of his ship, feeling the overwhelming need to be somewhere. It was as if he was supposed to be following something. But where or what? He felt unsettled as he continued on, looking around for some sort of clue into this rush. Sounds of shoes clacking against the metal floors. Perhaps the owner knew what he was looking for?

There was only one way to find out, so he picked up speed, in an attempt to catch up with the footsteps. The automatic doors separating him from their section couldn’t move fast enough. He shoved through them, just barely catching a better glimpse of the person. The clacking sound had come from the running of a pair of white heels, its owner clad in a white gown.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He called out.

The figure didn’t stop, only releasing a sob as acknowledgment. Antares picked up into a run, his chest clenching as he recognized her hair.

“Why are you running? What’s going on?” He pressed.

“Get away from me!” She screamed as he caught up with her.

Antares grasped her arm, but she tripped over her dress and the both of them were knocked to the floor. She kept trying to shove him away, but he maintained his grip on her. She began a deep, hacking cough, shielding herself from him.

“Are you alright?” He asked as gently as he could, but through her hacking, she couldn’t answer him.

He pulled her shoulder around, so that she might face him. His heart lurched as he finally saw her face. Blood was dripping from her mouth, speckling her formerly white gown. Her eyes held a strange fear in them. He was used to seeing fear in people's eyes, it just came with the territory. The look in a soldier’s eyes as he cut them down would be burned into his mind forever, so he numbed it. He started to shake. This wasn’t right, none of this was. “I told you to get away from me!” She sobbed, tears streaming down to meet the rivulets of blood by her mouth.

“It’s already gotten me, I won’t let it get you too!”

Despite his confusion, he pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. He cradled her head to his chest as she cried harder. His chest tightened as he heard her coughing resume. His view shifts to the blood streaks on the floor around them, and he swallowed hard.

“I was an idiot to think we could’ve fought this thing, to contain it. We should have eradicated them when we had the chance....” She croaked and grunted. “Oh stars...It hurts so bad, Antares.”

“This is my fault. I let them get away and gain strength. It’s my fault they did this to you. I’m sorry- I’m beyond sorry, my dear.”

He felt her give a slight nod into his chest.

“I should have done more to protect you. There’s so much I didn’t account for, so much I ignored..” He muttered as he felt his eyes prick.

The dream went on, despite him only sitting there on the floor, holding her. At some point she felt more like a rag-doll, but he just held her tighter. He ran his slender fingers through her hair, crying to himself.

He had failed her. There was nothing less one could say about it. Sitting there, blood staining his suit, there was nothing more he could do in this universe. It was over. The evil beings had taken away his love. There was nothing left there but him, her stiffening body, and the void around them.

“I promise you, we’ll meet again, and I’ll protect you with every force I can summon.”

 

* * *

 

 

They kept coming to him. Through their torment, he continued his mission. He takes an engineer aboard his ship. She’s afraid, but works hard to gain his trust. He finds her skills admirable, her warmth addictive. Every single day, he found himself wanting to let her in, but he remained firm with his cold heart. He told himself it was for her own good, no matter how hard she fights him. He already knows what those soft brown eyes are doing to him, even if he hates it. She’s raised the spirit of the crew; made him smile. He wonders if there’s anything she couldn’t do.

She’s lovely.


End file.
